black imprisonment

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Wisconsins Mass Incarceration

of African American Males:Workforce Challenges for 2013

Prepared byJohn Pawasarat and Lois M. Quinn

Employment and Training Institute

University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee

2013


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Wisconsins Mass Incarceration of African American Males: Workforce Challenges of 2013 1

Executive Summary

Among the most critical workforce issues facing Wisconsin are governmental policies and practices leading

to mass incarceration of African Americans men and suspensions of driving privileges to low-income

adults. The prison population in Wisconsin has more than tripled since 1990, fueled by increased

government funding for drug enforcement (rather than treatment) and prison construction, three-strike

rules, mandatory minimum sentence laws, truth-in-sentencing replacing judicial discretion in setting

punishments, concentrated policing in minority communities, and state incarceration for minor probationand supervision violations. Particularly impacted were African American males, with the 2010 U.S. Census

showing Wisconsin having the highest black male incarceration rate in the nation. In Milwaukee County

over half of African American men in their 30s have served time in state prison.

This report uses two decades of state Department of Corrections (DOC) and Department of Transportation

(DOT) files to assess employment and training barriers facing African American men with a history of DOC

offenses and DOT violations. The report focuses on 26,222 African American males from Milwaukee

County incarcerated in state correctional facilities from 1990 to 2012 (including a third with only non-

violent crimes) and another 27,874 men with DOT violations preventing them from legally driving (many

for failures to pay fines and civil forfeitures).

Prison time is the most serious barrier to employment, making ex-offender populations the most difficult

to place and sustain in full-time employment. When DOT drivers licensing history is also considered,

transportation barriers make successful labor force attachment even less likely. Yet, most of the recent

state policy discussions about preparing the Wisconsin workforce and debates over redistribution of

government job training dollars have largely ignored African American men and relegated ex-offender

populations to a minor (if not invisible) place in Wisconsins labor force.

This paper quantifies Milwaukee County African American male populations in need of increased

workforce policy attention and program support.

Proposed changes in state policies and legislation have been brought forward by religious groups, the

Milwaukee County District Attorney, The Sentencing Project, and others to reduce Wisconsins levels

of incarceration. They deserve serious consideration.

Programs to address reentry and workforce needs are currently operated by the Department of

Corrections and non-profit organizations but serve only a small portion of those in need. These should

be expanded and tested for their effectiveness.

Recognizing that there is no quick fix for ex-offender populations, the cost savings from reductions in

the prison population should be used to fund employment and training programs for those in and out

of corrections and to support programs to assist those without drivers licenses, an essential

employment credential.

The Windows to Work, a joint effort between the DOC and workforce investment boards, should be

expanded. If successful, these efforts will save the state money, help ensure public safety, and reduce

recidivism.


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Findings

1. In April of 2010 when the U.S. Census Bureau conducted its decennial count of Wisconsin residents, it

found 12.8% (or 1 in 8) of African American working age men behind bars in state prisons and local

jails. This rate of mass incarceration is the highest for African American men in the country and nearly

double the national average of 6.7% (or 1 in 15). See graph, page 8.

Wisconsin also leads the nation in incarceration of Native American men, with 7.6% of working age

men (or 1 in 13) in state prisons and local jails in 2010, compared to 3.1% (or 1 in 32) nationally. By

contrast, Wisconsins rate of incarceration of white men is similar to the national average.

2. State DOC records show incarceration rates at epidemic levels for African American males in

Milwaukee County. Over half of African American men in their 30s and half of men in their early 40s

have been incarcerated in state correctional facilities.

6.7%

7.7%

7.7%

8.1%

8.2%

8.4%

8.6%

9.1%

9.4%

9.7%

12.8%

U.S. average

Kansas

Colorado

Texas

Louisiana

Indiana

California

Pennsylvania

Iowa

Oklahoma

WISCONSIN

Ten Worst States for Incarceration of African American Men(2010 U.S. Decennial Census)

12.8%

7.6%

1.7%1.2%

6.7%

3.1%

2.0%1.3%

African Americans Native Americans Hispanics Whites

% of men incarcerated in state prison and local jails at the time of the

2010 U.S. Census: Wisconsin compared to United State average

Wisconsin rate

U.S. average


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3. From 1990 to 2011 Wisconsin incarcerated 26,222 African American men from Milwaukee County in

state correctional facilities. As of January 2012, 20,591 men had been released back into the

community and 5,631 were still imprisoned.

4.

By January 2012 the 26,222 African American men from Milwaukee County had been imprisoned for a

total of 42,675,397 days (or almost 117,000 years). At the average 2012 corrections operating cost of

$91 a day per capita cited by Wisconsin Legislative Fiscal Bureau, the cost of this incarceration wouldtotal $3.88 billion at 2012 prices.1 In early 2012 the state was spending over half a million dollars a day

to incarcerated 5,631 African American men from Milwaukee County.

5. 8,287, or one-third, of the African American men incarcerated since 1990 showed only non-violent

offenses.

1Adult Corrections Programs, Informational Paper 56 (Wisconsin Legislative Fiscal Bureau, January 2013), p.3.

0

500

1,000

1,500

2,000

2,500

3,000

1 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40 45 50 55 60 64

Age in 2012

Levels of Incarceration by Age: African American Males of Milwaukee County

Incarcerated currently or previously in

adult DOC facility

Never in DOC facility or in for less than

10 days

26,222

0

5,000

10,000

15,000

20,000

25,000

30,000

black imprisonment

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